The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology

In the face of the current environmental crisis which clearly has moral and spiritual dimensions members of all the world s faiths have come to recognize the critical importance of religion s relationship to ecology. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology offers a comprehensive overview of the history and the latest developments in religious engagement with environmental issues throughout the world. Newly commissioned essays from noted scholars of diverse faiths and scientific traditions present the most cutting–edge thinking on religion s relationship to the environment. Initial readings explore the ways traditional concepts of nature in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions have been shaped by the environmental crisis. Readings then address the changing nature of theology and religious thought in response to the challenges of protecting the environment. Various conceptual issues and themes that transcend individual traditions climate change, bio–ethics, social justice, ecofeminism, and more are then analyzed before a final section examines some of the immediate challenges we face in caring for the Earth while looking to the future of religious environmentalism. Timely and thought–provoking, Companion to Religion and Ecology offers illuminating insights into the role of religion in the ongoing struggle to secure the future well–being of our natural world.

Presents a comprehensive overview of the latest thinking in the rapidly growing field of religion and ecology Features newly–commissioned essays contributed by top scholars of diverse faiths and scientific traditions Compares the religion–ecology interface in Christian (Western and Eastern), Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Daoist, Shinto, and various indigenous peoples traditions Provides an extensive spectrum of approaches religious, scientific, feminist, ethical, indigenous to relate religion and ecology to concrete contexts Demonstrates the importance of religions contributions to discussions of pressing contemporary environmental and ecological issues and religions commitments to resolving these problems

John Hart is Professor of Christian Ethics, Boston University. His books include Cosmic Commons: Spirit, Science, and Space (2013), Sacramental Commons: Christian Ecological Ethics (2006) , and The Spirit of the Earth (1984). He has lectured globally on socioecological ethics and religion–ecology: in eight countries on five continents.